Standard investigations and treatments

What happens when you are referred for more tests

Urinary tract infection (UTI) sufferers for whom short courses of antibiotics haven’t worked and whose dipstick tests and urine cultures fail to show infection are usually referred for further tests. At this point, GPs and urologists have usually discounted bacterial infection as a cause of their patient’s urinary symptoms.

Common investigations for chronic lower urinary tract symptoms

Ultrasound
A scan of the kidneys and bladder to detect anatomical abnormalities of the urinary tract

Cystoscopy
A camera is inserted into the bladder to check the bladder wall and rule out bladder cancer

Biopsy
Tissue is taken from bladder wall to look for ulcers

Urodynamics
The bladder is filled with fluid while the patient is catheterized to measure how the bladder and urethra store and release urine.

Tests often find no cause for symptoms having already dismissed bacterial infection